8 Books to Read to Your Children

Reading has always played big part in our life with Caidin. We started reading to Caidin when he was a month old. My husband Chuck would even read the sports section to Caidin with a sing-song voice. Whether that’s why Caidin is a strong reader and has such a love of reading, it’s hard to say, but I have to believe it played a part.

We always had books with us when we went out. We would read while sitting on the subway, or waiting in a restaurant or flying to visit grandma and pop-pop. It’s what we did when we had extra time.

Today Caidin loves to read. In fact on Fridays he can stay up as long as he wants as long as he’s reading. We actually got that idea from Bunnicula by James Howe. Caidin took Bunnicula out at the school library. After he read it he said ‘Mom, you have to read this, it’s really funny.’ I did and it is a laugh-out -loud story about a cat who is convinced the new bunny is a vampire bunny who sucks the juice out of all the vegetables (reading level age 8 and up.) Caidin reads on his own and we also still read together. His dad is reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series to him, two summers ago I read Caidin the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and currently Caidin and I are reading The Time Travelers (Gideon Trilogy) by Linda Buckley-Archer.

But it all started when Caidin was little. These were eight of my favorite books to read to Caidin (or sing in some cases). We had so many books with stories from Dr. Seuss to Maya Angelou, but these are the ones I remember reading over and over again.

Christine Agro writes the parenting blog Life As A Conscious Mom on Beliefnet.

Why Reading to Your child is so Important

When we read together it creates a connection and a common interest. When children are younger it creates a sense of safety, nurturing and comfort and I think that association to reading carries forward as they get older. You can also use reading to establish a routine, which, in my opinion, is essential for young children. They need a sense of structure in order to feel safe and it is from that sense of structure that they are able to branch out and explore without fear.

We used reading to establish a bedtime routine for Caidin that included him picking out five or six books he wanted to read, then we would sit in his bed and read to him. We would finish with two goodnight songs and then off to sleep he went. The consistency of this routine made for an easy bedtime for everyone.

Thank you to all the authors who create such magical, inviting and inspiring stories.